Weekend Agenda: John Nichols of Disability Resource Group

As president of Chicago-based Disability Resource Group, John Nichols spends a lot of time traveling and talking to businesses and organizations about issues related to disability insurance. The company is a wholesaler of products designed to help disabled persons. Mr. Nichols started the company after recovering from a spinal cord injury 20 years ago. He uses that experience as a platform for his speaking events. On weekends he tries to clear his head. Here's how he expects this weekend to play out.

Saturday

6 a.m. Meet with friends of CARA, the Chicago Area Running Association, at Montrose Avenue for a 16-mile run along the lakefront. “I'm preparing for the Chicago Marathon, and this is the half-way point of training. We're logging heavier miles so I want to get this run done early before the crowds show up for the Air and Water Show,” he says.

Noon Brunch at Ann Sather or Nookies. “It's all going to depend how we get around the air and water show,” he says.

2 p.m. Attend baby shower for friends Matt Anderson, president of Referral Authority in Chicago, and his physician wife, Erica Anderson. “They're having twins so everything is in twos,” says Mr. Nichols, whose gifts are a travel baby bag and backpack in cranberry red.

4 p.m. Reviewing chapters for a book he's working on about protecting one's abilities to earn a living. He's also writing a book called "Six Steps to Daily Victories," as mentioned in his blog.

6 p.m. Dinner and then an hour or so reading “Engaged,” a book by his friend, Gregg Lederman, a New York motivational speaker. “I met him at a public-speaking event and he's now written two books since. This one's really good.”